Container with shape-retaining slide



July 17, 1934. F. w. GENZ CQNTAINER WITH SHAPE RETAINING SLIDE Filed Oct. 4, 1932 FREDER/Ck W GE NZ 3% @WEMZ arm/W Patented July 17, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE This invention relates to containers, and particularly, although not exclusively, to that type of container which is made of sheet material so flimsy as not to be self-shape sustaining, but retaining its shape only through the support afforded by its contents.

The invention is illustrated in combination with a cigarette package, this being a preferred relationship in which a number of new and advantageous objects are realized.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a relatively stiff fiat element slidably embraced in the folds at the end of the package congruent with and sustaining the shape, of the end of the package when in place, capable of being withdrawn wholly or in part, to permit an opening being torn in the end of the package for removal from time to time of portions of its'contents, and being slidably replaceable to form a closure for the opening so torn. The slidable element, or slide as it will hereinafter be referred to in the interest of brevity, is retained snugly within the folds by a band bridging the intermediate portion of the end of the package and being adhesively secured at its ends to the sides of said package, which band in the case of a cigarette package may conveniently be the revenue stamp.

Another object of the invention is the provision in a package of the type described of a slide, the end of which, when the slide is partially withdrawn, affords a straight edge for guiding the tearing of the material constituting the end of the package, when an opening is being torn therein 35 A further object of the invention is the provision of a slide which may be withdrawn and discarded by those who do not wish to avail themselves of its advantages without altering in any way the entity of the package and the normal manner of opening the same.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a relatively stiff slide which upon partial withdrawal may be forced angularly, laterally for severing the end portion of the pack age along the base of the folds, and at the same time, incidentally destroying the revenue stamp.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a shape-sustaining slide for the end of the package, which may serve as an advertising medium or coupon.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the following description of the preferred form of the invention proceeds.

In the drawing which accompanies and forms a part of the following specification and throughout the several figures of which the same characters of reference have been employed to denote identical parts:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the upper portion of a cigarette package indicating in broken lines the position of the enclosed slide;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the entire package showing the slide partially withdrawn and an opening torn in the part of the end thus exposed;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the package, the folds at the upper end being turned aside to reveal the slide; 1

Figure 4 is a section taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 2; and

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the slide per se.

Referring now in detail to the several figures, the numeral 1 represents the container which in the illustrative embodiment of the invention, is made from a sheet of metal foil 2 lined with a sheet of paper 3 and reinforced in its body and bottom portions by an outer paper sheet 4, the latter constituting the label for the container. The portion of the foil and lining which extend above the outer sheet 4, are brought together to form folds 5 and 6, with the foil exposed in the triangular portions of the folds 7 and 8 and on the fiat portions 9 and 10.

The folds 5 and 6 are held in closed position by a band 11 pasted at its ends to the opposite sides of the package and bridging the top end thereof. In a cigarette package, this band is the revenue stamp. Between the folds 5 and 6 and the flat portions 9 and 10, a guideway is formed in which the slide 12 is positioned. Said slide is the same size and shape as the top end of the package and is normally snugly retained by the pressure transmitted through the folds 5 and 6 by the band 11, and affords a shape-sustaining means for the top end of the package even after some of the contents thereof have been removed. The cigarette package with the slide in place will not become mashed or deformed when carried in the pocket.

The fact that the entire package may be sealed in an envelope of Cellophane or the like, does not affect the presence or operation of the slide, and the slide does not in the least interfere with the wrapping of the package in the Cellophane envelope.

Most smokers open a package of cigarettes by tearing off a small portion of the top end of the package, leaving the endsof only a few of the cigarettes exposed, the purpose of this small opening being to preserve the aroma of the cigarettes remaining in the package. By the mere act of withdrawing the slide part-way, access is had to a portion of the top end of the package for effecting its opening by tearing away the material. In this connection the flat end of the slide affords a straightedge for controlling the tearing of the opening so that a much neater opening can be produced.

Since the surfaces of the folds which immediately contact the slide on both sides are of metal foil, they form a smooth and comparatively frictionless guideway, facilitating the withdrawal and replacement of the slide. If the smoker does not care to avail himself of the advantages of the slide, it may be entirely withdrawn and discarded in the first instance, leaving the cigarette package in the same state in which it now exists, without the present improvement.

If one wishes to neatly open the entire upper,

end of the cigarette package, this may be accomplished by withdrawing the slide part-way and then forcing it laterally so as to cause it to cut through the folds 5 and 6 at their base. This act not only opens the end of the container throughout .its entire extent, but incidentally, destroys the revenue stamp. The tearing of the revenue stamp may be intentionally accomplished, in the same manner, after one has depleted the contents of the package through the small opening formed in the end, which is ordinarily done without necessarily destroying the stamp.

One of the ancillary features of the invention is the employment of the slide as a carrier for advertising, or as a coupon. In this capacity, it may serve its function as a shape-retaining means for the package until the latter is empty, and then withdrawn and added to a collection of coupons, while the container may be thrown away, or at the option of the user, it may be pulled out in the first instance, and added to the collection of coupons, the container being opened in the customary manner.

It is obvious that my invention is not necessarily confined to a cigarette package, but that it may be applied broadly to any container in which it is necessary or desirable to reinforce relatively weak and non-self-sustaining walls by a relatively stiff slide member which, at the same time, can act in any of the especial capacities 1attributed to the slide in the present specificaion.

What I claim is:

1. In combination with a container made of sheet stock of such flimsiness that the walls of the container are not self-shape sustaining, said stock being laminated, one lamination being of metallic foil, said container having an end adapted to be open for the removal of the contents, and constituted by portions of the side walls folded over into substantially a plane perpendicular to the side walls, a relatively stiff sheet element substantially congruent with said end, and slidably embraced between certain of said folded portions, the latter serving as a guide for said slidable element, the foil lamination engaging said slidable element on both sides, and a band bridging the intermediate part of said end, in close engagement with the said folded portions and attached to the opposite sides of said container.

2. Combination as claimed in claim 1, the slidable element having one end rectilinear, forming a straight edge for guiding the tearing of said end when said slidable element is partially withdrawn.

3. In combination, a container made of laminated sheet stock of such fiimsiness that the walls of the container are not self-shape sustaining, one lamination of said sheet stock being metallic foil, said container having an end adapted to be torn open for the removal of its contents, said end being constituted by the folding inwardly of portions of opposite side walls, into substantially a plane perpendicular to said side walls, an opposite pair of said folded portions being rectangular and the remaining pair of opposite folding portions being substantially triangular, a relatively stiff slide substantially congruent with said end and slidably embraced beneath said triangular folded portions and above said rectangular folded portions, said folded portions functioning as a guideway for said slide, and the foil lamination engaging said slide on both sides, for anti-friction purpose, and a band bridging the intermediate part of said end in close engagement with said triangular folded portions and attached to the opposite sides of said container. 

